Gift of
Charles Carter Smith, Jr.

Posters

Eight rare and seldom seen posters dating from the 1890s to 1963. They cover a wide variety of subjects from turn-of-the-century advertising posters to a poster announcing the John F. Kennedy-Haile Selassie Parade.

Included in the gift are two 1890s advertising posters, one by the master Will Bradley, often referred to as the American Aubrey Beardsley, designed for the Ault and Wiborg Company, producers of printing inks, and the other by Sydney Anderson for the Century Magazine, one of the most popular of the “mass” magazines of the era. These are welcome additions to the Library’s significant collection of American art nouveau advertising posters. There is also a poster for a Henri Matisse sculpture exhibit, signed on the stone by Matisse, which is a strong example of the fine artist’s entry into poster work. The Library’s collection has only one other poster by this important artist. There are also three very unusual German posters: an extremely rare recruiting poster for the Gestapo, a stylish advertisement for the famous Maxims Bar in Berlin, and an extraordinary original poster, designed by Albert Weisgerber, for the musician Roda Roda. Also included is a 19th century advertisement for Prince of Gales Havana Cigars, which is a beautiful example of chromolithography. Last but not least, there is a small piece of history, a 1963 poster for the John F. Kennedy-Haile Selassie parade.